1:03 AM
Oct. 7th, 2011 - What would a Saturday without at least three races be for Level 5 Motorsports owner-driver Scott Tucker? Probably a day off. Maintaining a 2011 season schedule that raises uncertainty as to whether he sleeps, Tucker again pulled a multiple-race extravaganza this weekend. Not only was his Level 5 team competing in the American Le Mans Series championship, Petit Le Mans, but Tucker also entered himself in the Cooper Tire Prototype Lites double-header, a pair of rounds in the IMSA GT3 Challenge by Yokohama series and the Sports Car Club of America's Pro Racing Trans-Am event. Petit Le Mans itself was a 10-hour commitment for Tucker, who drove both the Level 5 LMP2 entries, Nos. 33 and 055. Add five other races to that, and you start wondering where Tucker is hiding his Level 5 Hour Energy drinks.
Tucker's weekend kicked off with the Cooper Tire Prototype Lites races. Coming off a week of qualifying for the all-important Petit Le Mans, you'd think it would be hard for Tucker to transfer his focus to anything else-a win at Petit Le Mans would mean Tucker achieved two consecutive Petit Le Mans victories and would score the second-place position for Level 5 in the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup series LMP2 championship standings. But Tucker handily won the Cooper Tires race, his third consecutive victory in the Lites 2 class. His performance the next day at the IMSA GT3 Challenge by Yokohama series race earned him a No. 9 spot in the overall standings for the year.
Tucker drove the Level 5 Motorsports Microsoft Office-sponsored No. 55 Ferrari 430 for the SCCA Trans-Am event. This was the first year that the GGT class has run as its own class in the race, and Tucker again claimed a top finish, his second Trans-Am Series victory of the season. His first was at the SCCA National Championship Runoffs last month, where he drove a Porsche.
"It's been a great racing weekend so far," Tucker said. "There's been some good competition and some close finishes. Everything's working out; it's been a great day." With the supporting races out of the way, Tucker could finally focus his full attention on the juggernaut Petit Le Mans, the pinnacle of the ALMS season. The Level 5 team had entered two brand new LMP2 cars, which performed seamlessly during qualifying and testing. The team also added a fifth driver last week, Marino Franchitti, who has extensive experience driving the HPD ARX-01 models. He's been behind the wheel of nearly every iteration of the prototypes starting with HPD ARX0-1a, Level 5's being an HPD ARX-01g built by the partnership of Honda Performance Development and Wirth Research.
"We've been looking ahead to Petit ever since the decision was made to switch to the new prototypes," Tucker said. "It's definitely a big day for us. We're extremely pleased with the cars' performance this week at testing, and we just need to get out there and drive fast, drive smart and try to take home another win."
Level 5 Motorsports won Petit Le Mans in the LMP category last year, which bumped them up a class to LMP2. They've been formidable competitors in the field this season, winning multiple ALMS races and delivering solid performances in ILMC races overseas, as well.
Tucker's weekend kicked off with the Cooper Tire Prototype Lites races. Coming off a week of qualifying for the all-important Petit Le Mans, you'd think it would be hard for Tucker to transfer his focus to anything else-a win at Petit Le Mans would mean Tucker achieved two consecutive Petit Le Mans victories and would score the second-place position for Level 5 in the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup series LMP2 championship standings. But Tucker handily won the Cooper Tires race, his third consecutive victory in the Lites 2 class. His performance the next day at the IMSA GT3 Challenge by Yokohama series race earned him a No. 9 spot in the overall standings for the year.
Tucker drove the Level 5 Motorsports Microsoft Office-sponsored No. 55 Ferrari 430 for the SCCA Trans-Am event. This was the first year that the GGT class has run as its own class in the race, and Tucker again claimed a top finish, his second Trans-Am Series victory of the season. His first was at the SCCA National Championship Runoffs last month, where he drove a Porsche.
"It's been a great racing weekend so far," Tucker said. "There's been some good competition and some close finishes. Everything's working out; it's been a great day." With the supporting races out of the way, Tucker could finally focus his full attention on the juggernaut Petit Le Mans, the pinnacle of the ALMS season. The Level 5 team had entered two brand new LMP2 cars, which performed seamlessly during qualifying and testing. The team also added a fifth driver last week, Marino Franchitti, who has extensive experience driving the HPD ARX-01 models. He's been behind the wheel of nearly every iteration of the prototypes starting with HPD ARX0-1a, Level 5's being an HPD ARX-01g built by the partnership of Honda Performance Development and Wirth Research.
"We've been looking ahead to Petit ever since the decision was made to switch to the new prototypes," Tucker said. "It's definitely a big day for us. We're extremely pleased with the cars' performance this week at testing, and we just need to get out there and drive fast, drive smart and try to take home another win."
Level 5 Motorsports won Petit Le Mans in the LMP category last year, which bumped them up a class to LMP2. They've been formidable competitors in the field this season, winning multiple ALMS races and delivering solid performances in ILMC races overseas, as well.
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